Are You Working in the Right Part of Your Business?

Most business owners I work with are capable, driven, and experienced. Albeit, some are exhausted as well.

But there’s a pattern I see again and again, and it is what holds the business back from performing as it could be.

We tend to spend too much time in the parts of the business we enjoy, or where we feel most competent.

That sounds reasonable… but it’s often misaligned with what the business actually needs.

And that misalignment is costly.

Let me explain.

You might love sales, or operations, or product development. That’s your “comfort zone” or even your “genius zone.”

But your business doesn’t care about what you enjoy, it responds to where your input creates the most value right now.

Those aren’t always the same thing. 

So we need a more practical way to assess this. And this may require you getting off your high horse with that belief (attitude) of: ‘It’s my business, I deserve the right to work as I like.’

Think of your work across two axes:

• What you’re good at vs what you’re not.
• What the business needs most vs what it doesn’t.

This gives you four quadrants:

1. High skill / High need (your priority zone)

This is where you should spend most of your time.
It directly moves the business forward.

2. High skill / Low need (your comfort trap)

You’re good at it, you enjoy it — but it’s not critical right now.
This is where many owners over-invest.

3. Low skill / High need (your growth zone)

The business needs this, but you’re not strong here yet.
You either need to improve quickly or bring in support.

4. Low skill / Low need (your distraction zone)

This should be removed, delegated, or stopped.

Where it goes wrong

Most owners unintentionally sit in quadrant 2.

Why? Because it feels productive. It’s familiar. It gives a sense of progress and satisfaction.

But if the real pressure lies elsewhere in your business, the reality is that you are just avoiding the work that really matters.

What to do about it

Start simple:

• List your weekly activities (apply the 80/20 rule).
• Place each into one of the four quadrants.
• Be honest, not optimistic.

Then assess:

• Are you willing and able to double down on quadrant 1.
• Are you willing and able to reduce or delegate quadrant 2.
• Address quadrant 3 with urgency (learn or hire).
• Have the discipline to eliminate quadrant 4.

A note on leadership

You need to be honest with yourself. If your time isn’t aligned with business needs, no strategy will fix that.

As the saying goes: ‘A fish rots from the head’ applies in your business as well. The effect of how you lead in your business, i.e. how you conduct yourself day in day out, has a massive impact on how others in your business operate. 

You need to demonstrate leadership in your business by having the discipline to firstly focus in the areas that the business needs you most, and to actively demonstrate that you are not engaging in low ROI activities. 

Final thought

Effort isn’t your issue.

Alignment is.

When you put your time where it actually matters, results follow, often faster than expected. 

I also encourage you to reflect on why you are not fully aligned already. What in your environment allowed you to get to this point? What can you install to minimize the chance of this happening again? Some suggestions could include:

• I need better accountability partners
• I need to install a board or if you already have a board, then members who are stronger in holding us all to account.
• I need to check my self-celebrations. I.e we often reward ourselves by justifying our actions 😏

I hope that this article has added a touch of value to your day. If you take action on just one aspect then it will. If you would like to supercharge that, then schedule a discovery call now.

Sean Foster

Business Coach & Advisor

PS: Interested in working with me? I help in 3 ways:
[1] Work with me privately to improve your business profitability, scale your business & improve your personal and business productivity - Schedule an appointment here.
[2] Join BIG – in-person, group based coaching program. Operating from Silverdale, Auckland
[3] Understand & develop your behavioural habits through psychometric behavioural assessments & coaching